Monday, March 24, 2014

Seasonal Spaghetti Squashes


Spaghetti squashes are one of my favorite gluten free substitutions for pasta. They're perfect eaten roasted, straight out of the oven with salt and pepper or tossed with your favorite ingredients and sauce. These perfect halves are ready to scrape down. They have cooled for about a half hour and can now be handled. Using a spoon, run it between the skin and the flesh. The 'spaghetti' comes right out.


This version was made with some lightly sauteed red onion, garlic and cabbage. I left the spinach raw so that it could slightly wilt with the warm squash. I added chopped tomatoes and toasted almonds. You can toss the cooked squash into the saute pan at the last minute to bring it back up to temperature and distribute your flavors. Season with salt and pepper and your done! In order to keep it entirely gluten free, I paired it with my Herbed Seed and Nut Crackers instead of toast.


For this version, I used zucchini and garlic in my saute and threw in some chopped tomatoes at the last minute to warm them up. I seasoned it with a little butter, fresh basil and pecornio and lots of lemon juice. I think this one is my favorite.

DIRECTIONS
Preheat your oven to 375. Cut the ends off of the squash and slice it in half from end to end. Scrape out the seeds. You can roast these at the same time and add them to the top of your dish. Rinse them under cold water after you have separated them from the pulp. Spread them out on a paper towel and pat dry. Toss them with olive oil, salt + pepper and spread out on a separate sheet pan. Take your cleaned squash halves and brush them with olive oil and season generously with salt + pepper. Lay them flat side down and roast for thirty minutes. Check the tenderness with a knive. When they're done, it should slide right in. Allow them to cool until you can handle them. Scrape out the flesh and discard the skin. Now you're ready for the perfect pasta! Pick your ingredients and you're all set. The possibilities are pretty endless. Be creative!

ENJOY!

No comments:

Post a Comment